ESOPs and employee equity in Australian startups

The pool, the vesting, and the ESS rules that decide whether the grant is worth what it says on the offer letter. Written with the guide I built with Alexey Mitko, founding CFO of Eucalyptus.

The umbrella term for every structure on this page. How the ATO taxes it, upfront vs deferred, and what actually changes the answer for a startup.

Unpaid or under-paid work traded for a stake. How the vesting and the paper trail protect both sides, and where I see it go wrong.

The percentage-of-company framing most founders use is close to meaningless. How to show a grant as a range of dollar outcomes instead, and what that changes.

What real option grants have looked like on the finance roles I have placed, and the ESS tax timing that decides when the bill lands.

A share class built for flexible dividends, not ownership. Where it sits next to an ESS-eligible grant, and where it does not belong.

A cash bonus that tracks share value with no dilution and no cap table entry. Where it beats real equity, and the trade-off that comes with it.

The usual reason it comes up on a founder-stage cap table: settling a leaver's stake. The tests a buyback has to pass before the board can run it.

Total remuneration: base, super, and everything layered on top of it. Why the number on the offer letter is rarely the whole number.